The Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia in Beijing, People’s Republic of China and China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) on 10 August 2021 jointly organised the 1st “Gambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation and Online Exchange Conference” via Zoom.
The objective of this online conference was to further strengthen The Gambia and China’s commitment to promote trade and investment opportunities in The Gambia and further expand the cordial relations that already exist between the Republic of The Gambia and the People’s Republic of China.
The online Conference was attended by the Minister of Trade, Hon. Seedy Keita, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Gambian Ambassador to China, President of CCCME, Acting Director General of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Chief Executive Officer of Gambia Investment and Promotion Agency (GIEPA), Deputy Head of Mission of The Gambia Embassy in China, Representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Gambia, Embassy staff, senior government officials and over 60 Enterprises from both The Gambia and China.
Major agenda of the event included presentation by The Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) on the Investment environment and trade opportunities in The Gambia as well as Presentations by prominent Chinese Business Enterprises introducing their companies.
In his opening speech, the Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia to the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, H.E Masanneh Nyuku Kinteh, highlighted the progress in trade investment, development assistance and human resources cooperation between the two countries. He encouraged Chinese companies to invest in The Gambia to create job opportunities for the youths and the general well-being of the people.
Ambassador Kinteh went on to applaud China-Gambia relations which have entered a new state of strong development within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and that the bilateral relations between the two countries have yielded a lot in recent years.
President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), Mr. Zhang Yujing indicated that in 2020, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached US $570 million, including US $540 million in exports and US $30 million in imports. Mechanical and electrical products are the most important category of China’s export to Gambia.
According to the statistics of China’s Customs, in 2020, China’s export of mechanical and electrical products to Gambia was US $110 million, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%, much higher than the annual increase of 5.7% of mechanical and electrical products.
China’s export of mechanical and electrical products to Gambia mainly includes motorcycles and spare parts, household appliances, lighting equipment, agricultural machinery, etc. In addition, China is also the largest project contractor and the main source of investment in Gambia.
Mr. Zhang noted that CCCME with nearly 10,000 member enterprises and 25 professional industry branches will continue to give full play to its industry and channel advantages to promote China-Gambia economic and trade.
The Acting Director General of the Department of West Asian and African Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Ms. Xie Yajing noted that the Ministry of Commerce of China has worked closely with relevant departments of the Gambian government to actively implement the consensus reached at the talks between the leaders of the two countries and promote new development in cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure construction and other fields. policy and business environment.
Ms. Xie encouraged enterprises to seize the good opportunity of the exchange to deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust, connect projects, achieve concrete results and make new contributions to the development of China-Gambia economic and trade cooperation.
She assured that the Department of West Asian and African Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce of China will, as always, provide high-quality services for Chinese enterprises in carrying out economic and trade cooperation with Gambia.
In her closing remarks, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Gambian Embassy in Beijing, China, Ms. Fatou Kinneh Jobe, expressed optimism that both Gambia and China as good partners in the joint construction of the Belt and Road (BRI) and the Forum in China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will continue to broaden the areas of investment and cooperation.
She assured that the Embassy will continue to deepen exchanges between the two countries especially in carrying out pragmatic cooperation, build bridges between enterprises of the two countries and provide services to contribute to the economic and trade development of The Gambia and China.
Ms. Jobe, on behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia, extended sincere appreciation to CCCME, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade of The Gambia, Ministry of Commerce of China, Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) and the Gambian and Chinese Business Enterprises for their participation and contribution in making the event a success.
At the end of the event, the contact list of Gambian and Chinese enterprises that participated in the online Conference was shared among participants for further matchmaking.
